


Things I Know

by Anonymous



Series: Unpopular characters and rare pairings [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Millicent-centric, Strong Fat Female Characters, fatphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 18:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10366845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Something about Draco Malfoy has changed and Millicent doesn't like it one bit.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bun fun (AphPandeimos)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=bun+fun+%28AphPandeimos%29).



Millicent hated it when she was told she was beautiful. It was a lie and no one believed it. Besides there was nothing wrong with being ugly, really. There was a lot wrong with how everyone reacted to being ugly though. So, no, she wasn't beautiful, she was ugly as sin and half as tempting. So, when Draco Malfoy's greasy attempt at flirting included copious amounts of 'you're beautiful,' Millicent knew he wanted something.

"Look, I have half an essay to churn out before Transfiguration so I'd like it if you stopped wasting my time and tell me what you want." 

"Um- Hogsmeade, you and me?" He asked bashfully without a trace of the arrogance he wore around himself. Maybe if he hadn't seen her as a simple minded heifer, he would have tried harder to make it believable, poor that.

"Sure, why not?" Now Millicent wasn't one to simper but she was her mother's daughter and so the blush-and-breathlessly giggle routine worked better than anyone would expect of her. Draco's breath seem to hitch in disbelief and so he laid his happiness at her acceptance rather thickly. Idiot.

"Great, I'll see you then?"

"I hope so," she fluttered her eyebrows and let her mousey hair fall to cover the tiny smile she couldn't hide. Draco left and she could hear hushed laughter from some distance. He was no doubt exaggerating what just happened, probably stuffing sweaters under his robes as he always does when he imitates her. She looked up from her essay briefly to see Theo smirking, for a second she thought he was doing it with her but after he noticed her, he nodded in her direction in rather pitying manner. Not the least bit surprised, she went back to her work.

Hogsmeade weekend during spring time was one of Millicent's favourite times of the year. The air smelt clean and her chest didn't ache with every breath. She loved how pretty and green the grounds looked. Plus everyone was getting a little bit busier with exams around the corner; it meant that she had a little more peace. Millicent wasn't about let Draco Malfoy ruin it for her. 

She wasn't one for elaborate plans because so much could go wrong so she simply asked Humphrey, a portly Hufflepuff who liked to eye her chest even when she was glaring at him, with every intention of ditching him when she was done. Then, they would go to Madam Puddifoot for tea before she instructed him to come back for her in half an hour before.

Draco was waiting in front of Madam Rosmeta's. He seemed tight with tension, probably expecting a very violent reaction to however he wanted to end their 'date'. Millicent almost pitied him.

"Oi!" He started and swirled and smile at her in what was almost genuine. Poor ferret seemed to have forgotten that she had seen him truly smile. She did an approximation of a grin but it felt frayed around the edges. Draco didn't notice. Already she felt exhausted. Millicent wondered how weird things would be if she took off and left him standing dumbly in the sun.

"C'mon, I'm thirsty." She walked past him into the very warm bar room. It was very crowded and loud. She flexed her muscles at a group of third year Hufflepuffs and managed to get two seats for them. Draco cast a noise silencing charm around them.

"So. This is unexpected." She started, watching him carefully.

"Yes, well, it was unexpected. I didn't think I would feel this way about you." He replied with a grin. Again something about felt almost real. It was certainly better than all his previous attempts but his lines still needed working.

"Like what?"

"Like..." his voice trailing and he gestured around for something, "I'm happy when I see you."

Millicent couldn't blush at will, the flush that crept up her neck to her cheeks was that of anger. She did her 'pretty smile' and snickered internally when the ferret zeroed on her mouth. His eyes glazed over in surprise. He seemed to relax, all the tension draining out of his body like he was comfortable.

"You're the first boy to ever say that." She told him. Madam Rosmeta placed a bottle of butterbeer each in front of them. Millicent used the distraction to note the positions of Draco's hanger-oners. Weirdly, only Pansy was present and she was too busy shoving her small chest out for a very amused Daphne. Maybe they were invisible so as to not throw her off. 

"Sorry- I was what?" Draco asked once he was done surreptitiously ogling Rosmeta's breasts.

"Never mind, it was stupid," she took a sip and made a valiant effort at looking both frazzled and cute. Whatever she did brought an indulgent smile on Draco's face. 

"So, what are you into? Um, what are your hobbies?" _What are your hobbies? Really?_

"Don't know, school? I do like to spend time working out with Greg, I don't know if he told you but these biceps," she flashed them, "don't appear on their own." Draco furrowed his brows and he looked a little upset but not afraid like she intended. "Let's see what else?" She tapped her chin like she was really thinking about it. "Ooh, classical waltz. My mum loves it and I like to keep in form, for her and not anyone else. It's not like there's anyone who wants to see." That was mostly true. 

"I do. I'd love to see," Draco said breathlessly like he was holding back something like laughter. Probably imagining her ungracefully hefting her weight for a single audience who clapped encouraging and cringed awkwardly when she fumbled which would be often. She probably had smears of food on her face in his mind, the unimaginative berk. Millicent could dance and dance well at that. She did it because she loved to, not to twirl around a ballroom after a stuffy wedding like some of other girls.

"Oh, I don't know. It's kinda embarrassing."

"I'm sure it isn't," he rushed to say. "I'm sure you look beautiful when you do. I'd love to see it some time."

Huh, there wasn't even a hint of barb in that. Millicent was starting to get nervous. Most of her classmates had the opinion that she was duller than fat block of wood. Draco wouldn't need to act so well if he thought she wouldn't catch him on his lies. Unless, he didn't underestimate her intelligence (and maybe her acting because his reactions were a little too involuntary to planned). Suddenly, this was more exciting than she thought it would be.

"I didn't know you felt that way. I'm not like most girls," she pointed out.

He grinned at her. "I know. It's why I like you."

 _It's why I'm your target, more like_. "I don't know how you could possibly like me." She said appropriately self-deprecating. She waited until he was gulping to continue. "I'm, y'know', ugly."

"You're not. I don't think so." He said choking.

"Really? I mean, it hard to believe that. You called me a Manticore all of Second Year."

"I'm sorry about that," Draco replied. He even looked apologetic. Millicent didn't think his face was capable of that. How interesting. "I was a right prat. You're not- I mean, you look-"

"Yes," she prodded with what she hoped was an eager expression.

"Handsome."

"What?" She exclaimed, thrown off guard.

"You look handsome but not like a bloke, at all." Another almost genuine expression, this time a mixture of anxiety, embarrassment and honesty. More complex than what he was usually capable of. Millicent was nearly flattered.

"You called me beautiful. Before. It didn't sound like you believed it either." She said, hunching her shoulders and closing herself off.

"I know. I didn't- you're not ugly." He was deflating and awkward

"I'm not?" She looked at him from under her eyelashes, a feat made difficult by the fact that her eyelashes were rather short. "Handsome is a good thing?" She asked, trying to inject some hope into her tone.

"Yes," he answered strongly as if he was latching on to it dearly. "It's good... I prefer it."

 _Oh, well if you prefer it then. Oh you dumb ferrett._ "Handsome? I like it." She replied with a pleased smile she didn't have to fake. 

"And you? What are you up to?" She asked, as if she didn't know, as if Draco didn't loudly telegraph every single thing he was going to do from laughing at his own lame jokes to noting Potter was within hearing range to going to the bathroom. _Draco moves and we accommodate_. 

He launches into a long rundown of everything he has done in the past one month. Millicent kept her attention by running a sarcastic commentary. First there was Potter, only Draco disguised it as quidditch. Then there was Potter, only he was talking about Potions. Thirdly there was the She-Weasel, how obnoxious she was, always having something to say about anything. Hah. Finally, there was Potter again, cleverly hidden under a long winded, rather boring complaint about Prefect duties. Millicent felt vicious satisfaction to see Draco so thoroughly enamored with rejection. It was a beautiful thing to see. What's even more beautiful was that Humphrey, the mouth breather, had just walked in. She pretended not to see him.

"...of course, I handled it about as well as anyone. Told him to put on some clothes and charmed the statue clean. Not clean enough, though, a little fact some of our gallant Gryffindors discovered just last night." He laughed. Millicent supposed he had a good laugh when he wasn't imitating his father.

"Millie?"

"Humphrey!" She stood up, trying to radiate anxiety. _How does that go? Uhhh, be tense?_ She chose to imitate Granger instead. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, you said to meet-"

"Wait, let step outside. Draco, give me a minute." She grabbed Humphrey’s arms and dragged him out. Sure enough Draco followed behind. She went into an empty alleyway beside Madam Rosmeta because as much as Draco deserved the kind of humiliation he tried to inflict on her, she didn't want more people to see her with Humphrey.

"What is going on?" Draco demanded behind her sounding angry and pompous. Millicent had to bite her tongue to keep her laughter in before she turned to face him.

"Nothing. Go back inside and let me deal with this," she said making a poor attempt at appearing reassuring.

"What is _this?_ "

Before she could reply, Humphrey said, "Sod off, Malfoy. We're on a date."

Millicent anticipated Draco's reaction but it was the most curious thing. Instead of snorting in derision and retorting that it was all joke anyway, he looked crestfallen and upset.

"A date? With _him?_ " Draco spat, his eyebrow raised. Oh of course, it was only because she took his hard earned triumph away from him. "C'mon, Millie, with this thing instead of me?"

Now Humphrey was once flatteringly described as not as ugly as he could have been. As weird as Draco's pointy face was in certain angles, he was without a doubt the one she would choose had he not been a two faced, lying, manipulating shithead. Still, she was offended on behalf of Humphrey, mostly because he was too busy drilling holes into her robes to defend himself.

"Yeah with him, why not, Malfoy?"

"Why not?" Draco asked, his voice breaking. "I thought we were- there was something and you're out on a _date_ with _him?_ I thought..."

"Oh come of it," Millicent retorting, pushing something that felt suspiciously like guilty to the back of her mind. It's nothing more than a trick. "You think I don't know. I may not be Granger, Malfoy, but I know when I'm being played. Take poor Fat Millie out on a date, you know she's practically gagging to go on one. I don't like your games- would you stop pretending still! I know what you're doing, it's done, I know."

Draco flinched away at her raised voice. "It's not a game, I promise!" Millicent almost believed him; there was something about his voice that gave her pause. What if it wasn't all a lie?

"Listen, are we-" Humphrey begun.

"Shut up, Humphrey!" Millicent snapped. It shouldn't matter if he was telling the truth. For one, he hasn't shown interesting prior to asking her out. Well, he did speak to her more and no one said anything particularly scathing in a month but that could be anything or nothing. Besides, his parents don't approve and he wouldn't like the teasing he'd get from the Gryffindors. Then again, they were fairly visible.

"I'm going back to the Common Room."

"But-"

"Shut up, Humphrey," Draco said. He was missing his usual arrogance and bite and suddenly Millicent couldn't get away fast enough.

She arrived at the dungeons panting with exertion. The Common Room was filled with younger years and surprisingly, Pansy.

"Millie," she called from her seat near the heath. Millicent ignored her and went straight to her room, closed the door without locking it knowing her wards would keep almost everyone out. 

There was a sob stuck in her throat making it hard to breath but Millicent doesn't cry, not over boys and certainly not over Draco Malfoy. Still, she was allowed to be distressed over how confusing that was. She thought she knew enough- studied them enough but either she overestimated her observation skills or Draco Malfoy had a crush on her. The more concrete answer was that he was better than she was. Nothing to split hairs over, Draco was better than her at almost anything. Soon, he'd storm his way to his clique and maybe he'd dramatise their conversation. Millicent cringed. All the same, acting demure was to disarm him but she can't imagine how that would look to others.

There was a slight chance-

"Fat chance," she snorted angrily to the empty room. The only time Draco ever noticed her was when she wasn't wearing her bra or heavy robes. Usually he'd sneer at her face after he was done staring. Until a month ago, that is. That could have been when he made the stupid plan. Then he would spend weeks buttering her up so it wasn't too suspicious he would ask her out. Obviously.

After half an hour, there was a crowd moving past her room towards the boys section. She thought she heard his name and Pansy's voice. Ten minutes later there was loud knocking outside her door.

"Millie, open the door!" A few minutes of non-response later, Pansy was banging and kicking the door. "Millie if you don't open this door...."

Millicent had a bath instead and after that she organised her homework. Greg came inside her room after she was done with her Charms assignment. He stood by the door looking lost.

"Millie?" Greg had a soft voice which forces most people who weren't his close friends to strain to hear anything in it. Right now, he sounded disappointed. With her.

"Greg," she replied shortly. "Is Pansy done being angry that she didn't get her laugh?"

"Millie," he said again. He moved closer to her.

"I'm not stupid," she was already defensive but he hadn't really said anything. "Just kind of expected you not to help out. God, if I had been someone else."

Greg sighed and he flopped down on her bed. "Draco wasn't lying, Millie,"

"Then, why was he so nice? He was interested in what I was saying- or acted like it. Apologised, too. C'mon, I'm not that stupid."

Greg made an uncomfortable face. "Told him to. He asked me what you usually like and I said-"

"Not him?" She supplied. 

He shrugged. "I just said to tone it down." 

Millicent grunted. "He didn't just tone it down, he was acting like a whole different person."

"I didn't know you liked someone else," Greg said after a few minutes of silence. Millicent snorted and scratched out a sentence that needn't scratching out but she had to do something.

"He really likes you Millie," Greg appealed

"He's narcissistic. He only really likes himself. I'm not one to enjoy being played with, Goyle."

"Played?"

"It was all a joke, right? I'm such a big, easy target, right?" At this point, she was half hoping it was true to have some justification and the other half....

"No, it wasn't." 

... really wished she stayed in the dormitory that day instead. What is she supposed to do now? Go back and apologise? If she makes it past Pansy, maybe. Urgh, everything was so much easier when everyone thought she was ugly and left her in relative peace. _Handsome?_ Millicent sneered before laughing out loud. Handsome? Doubtful but she did manage to put her mother's lessons to good use. Remembering Draco's eyes on her lips killed the laughter. What if he did desire her somehow? Isn't the Slytherin thing to pursue that? It wouldn't be that she fell into a trap or led on, at least to her. Then, even if he gets tired or grows bored, she'll have a chance to do some networking. 

Millicent looked at Greg, then at the mirror when she was sure he wasn't paying attention and tried her cute but frazzled look again. Interestingly enough, she did look a little more pleasant. Coming to a decision, she threw a piece of parchment at Greg.

"Is he alone?"

"No but I can get him alone, if you want."

"Do it."

As soon as he was gone, Millicent tied her hair back, leaving a few strands framing her face. Then she took her charmed lipstick and applied to that it would not be obvious that she wore any. Her eyes got the barest make up. All in all, she looked the same but only slightly improved and if Draco really found her handsome, then she wouldn't need to try so hard.

Ten minutes of trying to concentrate on her essay later, Greg stuck his head in. "You can go in."

Thankfully, there was no one in the hallway connecting to the boys' rooms. It was nice of Pansy to exercise some control. Draco's room was the very last and opened easily.

"Uh, Draco?" Millicent called out to a fairly dark room.

"What do you want?" Draco snapped. He seemed to be lying on his bed but she could only make out the outline of his body. _I suppose I might deserve that._

 

"Just came to talk," she said as she closed the door behind her. She lit the lanterns around the room and nonverbally checked to see if they were alone. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do if someone was eavesdropping.

Draco drew in a measured breath. "About?" He said rather petulantly.

"The Chudley Cannons, of course," Millicent simpered. "Y'know, I think there's a chance in a million that they'd- oh, what do you think I want to talk about?"

"Humphrey?" Draco scoffed so disgusted and confused that Millicent drew in on herself. "Really?"

She sighed and said, "I don't like Humphrey, he's a little creep but he was the only one I could find on short notice. I needed him-"

"Because you thought I was trying to humiliate you," Draco finished. "What gave you the idea that I wanted to that?"

"Urgh!" Millicent threw up her hands in frustration. "How did you go from 'Millinticore' and 'heifer' to," she pitched her voice higher, clutched her hands together, lifted her leg and fluttered her eyelashes, "'oh Millie, the sun is shining especially bright today and flowers are blooming but you're the only star in my constellation!'"

"What the hell? I never said that!" He exclaimed getting to his feet but his lips were twitching.

Undeterred, Millicent went on, "'Oh Millie, the air smells fresh. Tell me about your dance, can we waltz to the sound of our love?'"

"That isn't even a little bit accurate." Draco's cheeks were flushed. "I thought girls liked sweet. Greg said you had a soft spot."

"Oh, you asked him, did you? Talk often about me, do you?" What kinds of things did Greg tell him?

"Well," he paused for some seconds as if confused, "yes."

"Maybe, ferret brain, you should have thought about how weird that would have looked first."

"I'm not- ferret!" Draco raised his voice to an almost shout. "Who's the one who looks like a cross between," he drew in a large breath and stopped but Millicent was having none of that. She knew it!

She pitched her voice higher again, "'Oh Millie, you. Are. So. Handsome." She spat at him, fist brunched in her pocket around her wand, she can't believe that she almost, almost-

"You are!" he shouted and suddenly it was quiet again. "You are," he repeated softly with an exhale. Millicent deflated.

"What do you want?" She asked. "I don't get it. What do you want?"

Draco puffed. "Doesn't matter."

Millicent swallowed the weird pain in her throat. "Well I'm sorry. Didn't mean to... upset you."

She turned around to leave when Draco spoke up, "You- I know I'm a bit of a prat but I thought we were getting somewhere,"

"We were," she admitted. "A bit."

"What went wrong?" Draco asked mostly to himself.

"It's just that you were acting different." Millicent explained. "I'm not very bright but...."

"Goyle said you hate the way I act,"

"At least I could trust it a little more."

Draco hummed. Millicent didn't know what to do so she said, "Well then, have a good day," and she opened the door. Unexpectedly, there was no one on the other side.

"Millie?" He called. "Can we try this again?"

Millicent turned around. "You want to?" Millicent managed to tamper down the relief, sounding only surprised. "After everything?"

"Yeah," he answered sitting down. "Tomorrow? It's still Hogsmeade weekend."

Tomorrow? Millicent didn't want to leave her room again for a very long but at the very least, regardless of what she feels, it's the Slytherin thing not to let an opportunity like this pass by.

"Tomorrow," she agreed. "Act normal. I mean, you are obnoxious."

"But?"

"No, that's all I want to say."

"Rather witty coming from you," he retorted lip curling into a smile. 

Millicent heaved a sigh. "Well, I'll leave you to have a good cry. Not every day you get rejected." She closed the door on Draco spluttering.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this last year and I figured I sat on it long enough. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
